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U.S., CALLS IT A "BLACK MARKET" TRANSACTION

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Dec. 3, 1999 – Marshall Islands Journal)---A Marshall Islands High Court judge sharply criticized the adoption agent, the adopting parents and the mother and father of a Marshallese baby that was put up for adoption and is now the subject of legal action in both RMI and Florida courts.

The case presented to the High Court is the consequence of "an incompetent, badly bungled effort at international adoption," said Judge H. Dee Johnson, Jr. in a 10-page ruling.

"In the process of what was, by all outward signs, a ‘black market’ transaction in a Marshallese child, the fundamental rights of several people were violated, the criminal laws of the RMI have been violated, the dictates of the Compact of Free Association have been cavalierly ignored, and, in all probability, the immigration laws of the United States have been violated."

As a result, "an innocent child who never had a choice in...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (December 3, 1999 – Radio Australia)---An anti-corruption group has warned that white-collar crime by professionally employed Papua New Guineans is on the rise and unsuspecting people are being "ripped off."

Transparency International says greedy lawyers and accountants who are born in Papua New Guinea and claim to be nationalists at heart, are bleeding the nation dry at the expense of the people.

The Chairman of the local Transparency International group, Sir Anthony Siaguru, said white-collar corruption needs to be addressed quickly.

He has called on the Ombudsman Commission to look into professional abuses.

Sir Anthony said these include padded paychecks, inflated expense accounts and questionable commissions.

Transparency International also has called on regulatory bodies to ensure enforcement of their codes of professional ethics.

For additional reports from Radio Australia, go to PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT...

ASIA-PACIFIC CENTER FOR SECURITY STUDIES

Honolulu, Hawai‘i

News Release December 2, 1999

The Asia-Pacific Center’s College of Security Studies graduated its ninth 12-week Executive Course on December 2, 1999. The 53-member graduating class, the largest to date, received their diplomas from H.C. "Hank" Stackpole, the President of the Center.

The course, which began on September 13, consisted of senior military and government civilians from 26 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Pacific Island countries represented included Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Participants discussed national policy and how the economic, diplomatic, political, cultural, and military factors affect stability and security of the region as a whole.

To date, the College has had 348 participants from 35 countries, and the Center has hosted or co-hosted 29 conferences or seminars with over 2,000 participants from 50...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

(PIR Link, 12/1/99)

(SEE: http://www.islandtribune.com/22.html) 

It is a real pleasure to hear, not the usual reactionary CNMI-type arrogance and contemptuousness toward all Micronesians, but the reasonable and eloquent voice of Guam's delegate to the US House of Representatives, the Honorable Robert Underwood! While Underwood hopes to bring up and address Compact impact and immigration issues within the scope of on-going Compact re-negotiations between the US and FSM and RMI, there is significant merit to the issue of whether Compact re-negotiation by themselves should dictate the outcome of the two US Compact Laws that authorized the Compacts of Free Association for FSM and RMI and the US Law that authorized the Belau Compact of Free Association.

It is these two US Laws that define the legal languages and requirements of "Habitual Residence" for Freely Associated...